Thieves in $1-million heist circumvented video surveillance systemThe robbers who broke through the roof and stole perhaps more than $1 million from an armored car business in South El Monte managed to avoid being videotaped during the heist, law enforcement sources say.

Lt. Kent Wegener of the County Sheriff's Major Crimes Bureau said the company had security cameras inside. But sources familiar with the investigation said the robbers may have accessed the equipment and removed any record of their presence.

"At this point, we ...

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What is the CPP Designation?

Saturday mornings in late February and early spring mean two things for me. Little League Baseball and the Certified Protection Professional (CPP) Review Course. For the last three years, I have found it a challenge to manage both commitments, but find both interesting, fun and rewarding.

There are eight domains covered by the CPP exam encompassing the areas of knowledge and expertise necessary for security professionals to master the security function in todays complex business environment. The CPP exam is an intensive 225 question exercise ...

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Why does my lobby need a Visitor Management System?

 

There are a several Visitor Lobby Management Systems on the market today from which to choose, but how do you know which one is right for your organization and whether or not you need one?

Many organizations, large and small, still utilize the old black book sign-in log. It’s a staple at many a front desk lobby and it amazes me sometimes why these organizations even bother to have a sign-in procedure when they ...

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New California driver's licenses so complex, manufacturer has struggled to get them right Up to 80% of some batches have had errors, forcing tens of thousands of motorists to wait as long as six weeks, rather than a few days, to get their cards. The DMV says the turnaround time has been steadily improving. When the California Department of Motor Vehicles unveiled a newly designed driver's license last fall -- the first major revision in a decade -- officials touted sophisticated security features that promised to make the cards easier to use and harder to fake. << MORE >>

The brief article below regarding contractor ID cards not being turned in is a good illustration of why it is advisable to enable an automatic expiration date on temporary workers such as contractors. Doing so would either require the contractor to periodically renew their badges should the project take longer and/or eliminate the seriousness of having them turned in as they would expire automatically and no longer allow access through any doors or gates previously used during the project.

Article was originally published on May 21, 2010 by Alice Lipowicz in the Washington Weekly

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A helpful tool for understanding some of the terms for video surveillance systems and installation of CCTV Systems<< MORE >>

Card Access Control System Basics

Overview

Access control is vital to providing a safe, secure business environment. Restricting access at specific entry points to authorized people is the basic definition of access control. The process of designing an access control system that meets your needs involves mixing appropriate technology with facilities management and existing construction environments.

Implementing an access control system where none currently exists will definitely force change on the users of the facility. Before one begins to develop an access control strategy, one ...

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ID Cards

ID cards are generally produced using either a traditional film based method or digital printing technology. The older, more traditional process for producing personal ID cards is a multi-step process which is time consuming and costly as compared to a digital system. Card produced in this fashion can also be easily counterfeited or changed.

Take an instant photo of the person, cut and trim the picture to fit the ID card.
Separately print the person's ID information on a card-sized piece of paper or ...

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I am continually surprised by how my specific knowledge in the ID, security and management arena is not necessarily common knowledge and wish to share that knowledge and thoughts with those who would be interested in listening. << MORE >>